Steam-vacuum cleaner with electric power controlling function and method thereof

ABSTRACT

A steam-vacuum cleaner with an electric power controlling function and a method thereof are provided. The steam-vacuum cleaner includes a suction motor which rotates to generate a suction force; a heater which emits heat to generate a steam; a power supply part which supplies an electric power to the suction motor and the heater; an electric power measuring part which measure a total electric power supplied from the power supplier and consumed in the suction motor and the heater; and a controller which controls at least one of a rotational velocity of the suction motor and a magnitude of heat emitted from the heater such that the total electric power of the suction motor and the heater is maintained less than a threshold value. Accordingly, steam and vacuum cleaning functions are simultaneously performed within the limit of power capacity of a wire.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2007-0054854, filed on Jun. 5, 2007, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present disclosure relate toa steam-vacuum cleaner with an electric power controlling function,which is capable of maintaining a total electric power consumed in thesteam-vacuum cleaner less than a threshold value, and a method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a vacuum cleaner has a body and a brush which are connectedwith each other via a connection pipe and a hose, and it operates amotor and a filter disposed therein to draw in dust or other foreignsubstances through the brush connected with the body via the connectionpipe and the hose.

Such a vacuum clear has been currently upgraded so that it can achieve amore complete cleaning operation. That is, besides the function offiltering dust or other foreign substances and then discharging only thedrawn-in air to the outside, the vacuum cleaner has a function ofremoving a stain stuck to a floor surface, a tile surface or a chink inthe window using steam or wet-cloth. This upgraded vacuum cleaner iscalled a steam-vacuum cleaner.

Such a steam-vacuum cleaner requires an electric power ranging from 500Wto 1,500W to vaporize water with a heater. Also, if a vacuum cleaningfunction is added to the steam-vacuum cleaner, an electric power greaterthan above is required to drive a suction motor.

If either one of a steam cleaning function and a vacuum cleaningfunction is used, the steam-vacuum cleaner can be used regardless of thepower capacity of a cord and a wire. However, if both the functions aresimultaneously used, the steam-vacuum cleaner requires a double electricpower and thus exceeds a limit of the power capacity of the cord and thewire. Also, if the wire is manufactured to be thick in order to meet theincreased total electric power, there is another problem that the lengthof wire becomes shorter in order to be contained in the existing cordreel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure overcome the abovedisadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, thepresent disclosure is not required to overcome the disadvantagesdescribed above, and an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosuremay not overcome any of the problems described above.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a steam-vacuum cleaner withan electric power controlling function, which is capable of maintaininga total electric power less than a threshold value in order to make itpossible to perform both vacuum-steam and vacuum cleaning operationssimultaneously within the limit of capacity of power supplied from awire, and a method thereof.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided acleaner, comprising: a suction motor which rotates to generate a suctionforce; a heater which emits heat to generate a steam; a power supplypart which supplies an electric power to the suction motor and theheater; an electric power measuring part which measures a total electricpower supplied from the power supplier and consumed in the suction motorand the heater; and a controller which controls at least one of arotational velocity of the suction motor and a magnitude of heat emittedfrom the heater such that the total electric power of the suction motorand the heater is maintained less than a threshold value.

The controller may maintain the magnitude of heat emitted from theheater constant and adjust the rotational velocity of the suction motor,thereby maintaining the total electric power less than the thresholdvalue.

The controller may control the rotational velocity of the suction motorby means of phase control.

The controller may maintain the rotational velocity of the suction motorconstant and adjust the magnitude of heat emitted from the heater,thereby maintaining the total electric power less than the thresholdvalue.

The controller may adjust the magnitude of heat emitted from the heaterand adjust the rotational velocity of the suction motor, therebymaintaining the total electric power less than the threshold value.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided amethod for controlling an electric power, comprising: comparing a totalelectric power with a threshold value; and if the total electric powerexceeds the threshold value, controlling at least one of a rotationalvelocity of a suction motor and a magnitude of heat emitted from aheater to maintain the total electric power less than the thresholdvalue.

The controlling step may comprise maintaining the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater constant and adjusting the rotational velocityof the suction motor, thereby maintaining the total electric power lessthan the threshold value.

The controlling step may comprise adjusting the rotational velocity ofthe suction motor by means of phase control.

The controlling step may comprise maintaining the rotational velocity ofthe suction motor constant and adjusting the magnitude of heat emittedfrom the heater, thereby maintaining the total electric power less thanthe threshold value.

The controlling step may comprise adjusting the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater and adjusting the rotational velocity of thesuction motor, thereby maintaining the total electric power less thanthe threshold value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Above and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparentand more readily appreciated from the following description of theexemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompany drawingsof which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a steam-vacuum cleaner accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a manipulation part according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an electricpower of a steam-vacuum cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an electricpower of a steam-vacuum cleaner according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an electricpower of a steam-vacuum cleaner according to still another exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Certain exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a steam-vacuum cleaner accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG.1, the steam-vacuum cleaner comprises a manipulation part 105, a suctionmotor 110, a heater 115, a power supply part 120, an electric powermeasuring part 125, and a controller 130.

The manipulation part 105 is provided with a button or switch which isdisposed on one side of a handle located between a hose and a pipe ofthe steam-vacuum cleaner or disposed on a top of a body, and receives acommand from a user and transmits the command to the controller 130,which will be described in detail below. The manipulation part 105 willbe described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a viewillustrating the manipulation part 105 according to the exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the manipulation part 105 comprises a functionswitch 105 b to select a “vacuum” cleaning function, “vacuum & steam”cleaning function, and “steam” cleaning function of the steam-vacuumcleaner, and a control switch 105 a to adjust the degree of vacuum andsteam.

The suction motor 110 is rotated to generate a vacuum in the body of thesteam-vacuum cleaner and thus generate a suction force, thereby drawingin dirt or dust. The suction force is adjusted according to a rotationalvelocity of the suction motor 110, which is controlled by means of phasecontrol. Briefly, the phase control will be described. The phasecontrol, which is one of methods for controlling an electric power,adjusts a conduction angle of an input voltage waveform and therebycontrols a supplied electric power. In general the phase control uses acontrol element called “triac”.

The heater 115 emits heat and thus vaporizes water flowing into thesteam-vacuum cleaner. The heater 115 consumes a constant electric powerto emit heat and adjusts an amount of vapor according to an amount ofwater.

The power supply part 120 receives an external electric power through acord and a wire provided at one side of the body (not shown) of thesteam-vacuum cleaner, and supplies the electric power to the respectiveelements of the steam-vacuum cleaner. Particularly, the power supplypart 120 supplies the electric power to the suction motor 110 and theheater 115 through the electric power measuring part 125.

The electric power measuring part 125 measures an electric powersupplied from the power supply unit 120 to the suction motor 110 and theheater 115 and transmits the result of measuring to the controller 130.

The controller 130 controls the entire operation of the steam-vacuumcleaner. The controller 130 receives a user's command through themanipulation part 105 and controls at least one of the suction motor 110and the heater 115 to perform any one of cleaning functions “vacuum”,“vacuum & steam”, and “steam”.

Particularly, if the suction motor 110 and the heater 115 aresimultaneously operated to perform the “vacuum & steam” cleaningfunction, the controller 130 controls at least one of the suction motor110 and the heater 115 based on the total electric power which ismeasured by the electric power measuring part 125, thereby maintainingthe total electric power less than a threshold value. The thresholdvalue refers to a maximum electric power which can be input from theoutside through the cord and the wire of the steam-vacuum cleaner.

More specifically, the controller 130 maintains the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater 115 constant and adjusts the rotational velocityof the suction motor 110, thereby maintaining the total electric powerless than the threshold value.

That is, the controller 130 maintains the magnitude of heat emitted fromthe heater 115 constant and decreases the rotational velocity of thesuction motor 110 by means of phase control, thereby decreasing theelectric power of the suction motor 110. When the total electric powerdecreases below the threshold value, the controller 130 stops the phasecontrol of the suction motor 110 and maintains the rotational velocityconstant. Accordingly, the total electric power of the steam-vacuumcleaner is maintained less than the threshold value.

If one of “vacuum” and “steam” cleaning functions is selected, thecontroller 130 controls one of the suction motor 110 and the heater 115to be operated according to the selected cleaning function.

That is, if a “vacuum” cleaning function is selected, the controller 130controls the suction motor 110 to be operated within the maximum limitof the rotational velocity, without operating the heater 115. Thecontroller 130 intercepts the power supply to the heater 115 andsupplies the maximum electric power within the threshold to the suctionmotor 110, thereby enabling a maximum suction force to be used.

If a “steam” cleaning function is selected, the controller 130intercepts the power supply to the suction motor 110 and maintains themagnitude of heat emitted from the heater 115 constant.

As described above, the total electric power is maintained less than thethreshold value by means of phase control of the suction motor 110 ifthe suction motor 110 and the heater 115 are concurrently operated toperform a “vacuum & steam” cleaning function. Hereinafter, anothermethod to maintain the total electric power less than the thresholdvalue will be described.

According to another method for maintaining the total electric powerless than the threshold value, the controller 130 maintains therotational velocity of the suction motor 110 constant and adjusts themagnitude of heat emitted from the heater 115, thereby maintaining thetotal electric power less than the threshold value.

More specifically, the controller 130 maintains the rotational velocityof the suction motor 110 constant and decreases the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater 115, thereby decreasing the electric power ofthe heater 115. When the total electric power decreases below thethreshold value, the controller 130 controls the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater 115 to be maintained constant. Also, themagnitude of heat emitted from the heater 115 is adjusted within aminimum limit that is required to vaporize the water flowing into theheater 115.

According to still another method for maintaining the total electricpower less than the threshold value, the controller 130 adjusts both therotational velocity of the suction motor 110 and the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater 115, thereby maintaining the total electricpower less than the threshold value.

More specifically, the controller 130 decreases the rotational velocityof the suction motor 110 by means of the phase control, and alsodecrease the magnitude of heat emitted from the heater 115, therebydecreasing the electric power of the suction motor 110 and the heater115. When the electric power decreases below the threshold value, thecontroller 130 stops the phase control of the suction motor 110 andmaintains the rotational velocity and the magnitude of heat emitted fromthe heater 115 constant. Also, the magnitude of heat emitted from theheater 115 is adjusted within a minimum limit that is required tovaporize the water flowing into the heater 115.

Hereinafter, a method for maintaining a total electric power less than athreshold value of the steam-vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1 will bedescribed. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controllingan electric power of the steam-vacuum cleaner according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 130 checks a user's commandtransmitted through the manipulation part 105 (operation S310). That is,the controller 130 checks which one of “vacuum”, “vacuum & steam”, and“steam” cleaning functions is selected through the function switch 105a.

If the “vacuum & steam” cleaning function is selected (operationS320-Y), the controller 130 controls the power supply part 120 to supplyan electric power to the suction motor 110 and the heater 115 andperform the “vacuum & steam” cleaning function (operation S330).

The controller 130 determines whether or not the total electric powermeasured by the electric power measuring part 125 exceeds a thresholdvalue (operation S340). That is, the controller 130 determines whetheror not the total electric power supplied to the suction motor 110 andthe heater 115 exceeds a threshold value which is a maximum electricpower that can be input from the outside through the cord and the wireof the steam-vacuum cleaner.

If the total electric power exceeds the threshold value (operationS340-Y), the controller 130 maintains the magnitude of heat emitted fromthe heater constant and controls the rotational velocity of the suctionmotor 110, thereby maintaining the total electric power less than thethreshold value (operation S350). If the total electric power does notexceed the threshold value (operation S340-N), the controller mayoperate the “vacuum & steam” cleaning function (operation S330) andcontroller 130 may again determine whether or not the total electricpower measured by the electric power measuring part 125 exceeds athreshold value (operation S340).

More specifically, the controller 130 maintains the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater 115 constant and decreases the rotationalvelocity of the suction motor 110 by means of phase control, therebydecreasing the electric power of the suction motor 110. Also, when thetotal electric power decreases below the threshold value, the controller130 stops the phase control of the suction motor 110 and maintains therotational velocity constant.

On the other hand, if the “vacuum” cleaning function is selected(operation S360-Y), the controller 130 controls the suction motor 110 tobe operated within a maximum limit of the rotational velocity, withoutoperating the heater 115 (operation S370). That is, the controller 130intercepts the power supply to the heater 115 and supplies a maximumelectric power within the threshold to the suction motor 110, therebygenerating a maximum suction force.

If the “steam” cleaning function is selected (operation S380-Y), thecontroller 130 operates the heater 115 with the constant magnitude ofheat emitted from the heater 115, without rotating the suction motor 110(operation S390).

Hereinafter, a method for maintaining a total electric power less than athreshold value in a different way, instead of using the phase control,will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIGS. 4 and 5 areflowcharts illustrating this method when the “vacuum & steam” cleaningfunction is selected. The same procedure as in FIG. 3 is applied whenthe “vacuum” or “steam” cleaning function is selected and thus itsdescription will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an electricpower of a steam-vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, the controller 130 controls the power supply part120 to supply an electric power to the suction motor 110 and the heater115 and operates a “vacuum & steam” cleaning function (operation S410).

The controller 130 determines whether or not a total electric powermeasured by the electric power measuring part 125 exceeds a thresholdvalue (operation S420). That is, the controller 130 determines whetheror not the total electric power supplied to the suction motor 110 andthe heater 115 exceeds a threshold which is a maximum electric powerthat can be input from the outside through the cord and the wire of thesteam-vacuum cleaner.

If the total electric power exceeds the threshold (operation S420-Y),the controller 130 maintains the rotational velocity of the suctionmotor 110 constant and controls the magnitude of heat emitted from theheater 115, thereby maintaining the total electric power less than thethreshold value (operation S430). If the total electric power does notexceed the threshold value (operation S420-N), the controller mayoperate the “vacuum & steam” cleaning function (operation S410) andcontroller 130 may again determine whether or not the total electricpower measured by the electric power measuring part 125 exceeds athreshold value (operation S420).

More specifically, the controller 130 maintains the rotational velocityof the suction motor 110 constant and decreases the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater 115, thereby decreasing the electric power ofthe heater 115. When the total electric power decreases below thethreshold value, the controller 130 maintains the magnitude of heatemitted from the heater 115 constant. Also, the magnitude of heat isadjusted within a minimum limit that is required to vaporize the waterflowing into the heater 115.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an electricpower of a steam-vacuum cleaner according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, the controller 130 controls the power supply part120 to supply an electric power to the suction motor 110 and the heater115 and operates the “vacuum & steam” cleaning function (operationS510).

The controller 130 determines whether or not a total electric powermeasured by the electric power measuring part 125 exceeds a thresholdvalue (operation S520). That is, the controller 130 determines whetheror not the total electric power supplied to the suction motor 110 andthe heater 115 exceeds a threshold value which is a maximum electricpower that can be input from the outside through the cord and the wireof the steam-vacuum cleaner.

If the total electric power exceeds the threshold value (operationS520-Y), the controller 130 controls the rotational velocity of thesuction motor 110 and the magnitude of heat emitted from the heater 115,thereby maintaining the total electric power less than the thresholdvalue (operation S530). If the total electric power does not exceed thethreshold value (operation S520-N), the controller may operate the“vacuum & steam” cleaning function (operation S510) and controller 130may again determine whether or not the total electric power measured bythe electric power measuring part 125 exceeds a threshold value(operation S520).

More specifically, the controller 130 decreases the rotational velocityof the suction motor 110 by means of phase control, and decreases themagnitude of heat emitted from the heater 115, thereby decreasing thetotal electric power of the suction motor 110 and the heater 115. Whenthe total electric power decreases below the threshold value, thecontroller 130 stops the phase control of the suction motor 110 andmaintains the rotational velocity and the magnitude of heat emitted fromthe heater 115 constant. Also, the magnitude of heat emitted from theheater is adjusted within a minimum limit that is required to vaporizethe water flowing into the heater 115.

As described above, the total electric power of the steam-vacuum cleaneris maintained less than a threshold value by controlling the rotationalvelocity of the suction motor 110 and the magnitude of heat emitted fromthe heater 115, and thus the steam and vacuum cleaning functions aresimultaneously performed within the limit of power capacity available inthe wire. Also, when one of the suction motor and the heater is used,the vacuum cleaner takes an advantage of a high output steam jet or highoutput suction force.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have beenshown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is definedin the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A cleaner, comprising: a suction motor which rotates to generate asuction force; a heater which emits heat to generate a steam; a powersupply part which supplies an electric power to the suction motor andthe heater; an electric power measuring part which measures a totalelectric power consumed in the suction motor and the heater; and acontroller which controls at least one of a rotational velocity of thesuction motor and a magnitude of heat emitted from the heater such thatthe total electric power of the suction motor and the heater ismaintained less than a threshold value.
 2. The cleaner as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the controller maintains the magnitude of heat emittedfrom the heater constant and adjusts the rotational velocity of thesuction motor, thereby maintaining the total electric power less thanthe threshold value.
 3. The cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein thecontroller controls the rotational velocity of the suction motor bymeans of phase control.
 4. The cleaner as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe controller maintains the rotational velocity of the suction motorconstant and adjusts the magnitude of heat emitted from the heater,thereby maintaining the total electric power less than the thresholdvalue.
 5. The cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlleradjusts the magnitude of heat emitted from the heater and adjusts therotational velocity of the suction motor, thereby maintaining the totalelectric power less than the threshold value.
 6. A method forcontrolling an electric power, comprising: comparing a total electricpower with a threshold value; and if the total electric power exceedsthe threshold value, controlling at least one of a rotational velocityof a suction motor and a magnitude of heat emitted from a heater tomaintain the total electric power less than the threshold value.
 7. Themethod as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controlling step comprisesmaintaining the magnitude of heat emitted from the heater constant andadjusting the rotational velocity of the suction motor, therebymaintaining the total electric power less than the threshold value. 8.The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controlling step comprisesadjusting the rotational velocity of the suction motor by phase control.9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controlling stepcomprises maintaining the rotational velocity of the suction motorconstant and adjusting the magnitude of heat emitted from the heater,thereby maintaining the total electric power less than the thresholdvalue.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controllingstep comprises adjusting the magnitude of heat emitted from the heaterand adjusting the rotational velocity of the suction motor, therebymaintaining the total electric power less than the threshold value.